2 Men Still Missing After Memorial Day Boat Tragedy

Two men are still missing after their boat sank on May 26 off the coast of Western Alaska, according to a press release from the Alaska State Troopers (AST).

Albert Williams, 65, and Samuel Shavings, 72, were riding on a 10-foot Ocean Pro vessel along with Williams’s 19-year-old son in an area located near an island off the Bering Sea. Around 9 p.m. local time on Monday, authorities received a call that the boat had sunk amidst harsh conditions.

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The 19-year-old passenger, whose name has not been publicly disclosed, was able to swim from the wreckage to shore, where he was transported to a medical clinic for treatment. At first, the AST reported that a second passenger had been extricated from the water. However, on May 27, the AST “corrected” that report and confirmed that the older men are still missing.

Williams’s daughter, Dallas, told Alaska News Source that her father and brother had gone out to hunt for seals. “They were looking—my dad hadn’t gotten a seal yet this spring—so they went to go look for seals,” Dallas explained. “It’s a seasonal thing every spring.”

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Dallas continued, detailing how the boat reportedly sank: “My brother says that [the sea] was getting really rough and they were taking water in from the motor side. And it just filled up with too much water. We have a whole bunch of family coming over to be with my mom so that we’re not alone. A lot of people have been bringing food, so we haven’t been alone at all since.”

From Monday night into Tuesday morning, two local boats and a U.S. Coast Guard vessel searched for Williams and Shaver to no avail. On Tuesday, the Rescue Coordination Center launched a C-130 plane to aid in recovery efforts. A representative from the Alaska State Troopers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Men’s Journal.

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